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Arcanists
Arcanists is a turn-based strategy game. Players take turns to utilise one of sixteen spells, chosen by the player beforehand, in order to defeat their opponents. How to Play Basics When you first log-in to Arcanists, you must create a character. Playing the tutorial will help you to get the hang of the basics of the game. The number above your character's head is your life meter; if this hits 0, your character will die. Movement and Direction Arrow keys are used to look around the battlefield. Z moves to the left while X moves to the right. Enter is used to perform a long jump, and backspace or shift performs a high jump. N and C switch between minions, centering the camera on the creature under your command. The mouse is used to target and fire most weapons. Under certain circumstances, you may find yourself with the ability to fly. X and Z move your player right and left as before; Shift flies upwards and Enter flies downwards. If the camera is moved, it will no longer follow a character as he moves; to make it follow your character again, you can use the N or C keys. Sometimes, it can be difficult to jump from one location to the next if your character is facing the wrong way, as turning around may mean you fall from where you are standing. To change direction without moving, choose a weapon and target it in the direction you wish to face. Spells At the bottom of your screen, there is the spell bar. This shows which spells you have available. Unavailable spells will be shaded out. Some spells can be used a limited number of times, or must be charged for a certain number of turns before they can be used; hovering the mouse over them will show how many charges left on a spell or how many turns before it can be used again. Spells have three levels: *Level 1 - These spells are available as soon as you purchase the respective spellbook, which costs 5 wands. They are found on the left hand side of the spellbook. Each book has 5 level 1 spells. *Level 2 - These spells cost 2 wands each, and you must also have the corresponding level 1 spell in your spell list in order to use it. The corresponding spell will be exactly on the opposite side of the book. Each book has 5 level 2 spells, each corresponding to their own level 1 spell. *Level 3 - These spells cost 3 wands each, and you must use 5 other spells from the same spellbook in order to use them. They are usually single-use and the only exceptions are Comet and Storm, which recharge after 5 turns. The Arcane spellbook has 6 level 1 spells. Some spells deal certain kinds of damage which have special effects. These are as follows: *Arcane damage - Heals arcane imps and the arcane tower. *Stone damage - All Earth spells do double damage to towers. The spells are not described as doing Stone damage in-game. *Snow damage - Will not damage Ice Castle. Heals frost minions. *Storm damage - Some storm monsters are immune to storm damage. *Death damage - Minions other than imps that are killed with death damage will be converted into undead minions under your command. Death damage will heal undead minions, including the summoned Wraith. It will also heal any character who has become a Lich using the Lichdom spell. *Light damage - Deals double damage to undead minions and Liches. Ball Spells Balls are projectiles which follow a parabolic trajectory. They are generally among the basic spells in a spellbook. Weapons are aimed and fired with the mouse; the weapon's velocity is controlled by how long the left mouse button is held. Balls explode on impact. Bomb Spells Bombs are identical to balls, except they bounce instead of exploding on impact. They explode after 5 seconds. Bombs can be very useful for enemies which are at the bottom of a pit, especially as many bombs have a cluster effect. They can be difficult to use against enemies which do not have obstacles close to them. Arrows Arrows are essentially homing ball attacks. These spells are excellent at damaging opponents at a distance and can be very accurate when used correctly. However, these attacks curve, which can make their direction difficult to predict without practice, and will be stopped by any obstacle. Players must click where they wish the arrow to go, and then fire the spell as with the ball spells. These spells are often fired at full power upwards, to allow the arrow to curve over the top of the landsapce. Bolts Bolts are similar to firearms: they are aimed in one direction and always fire at a set power with a number of shots, normally around 10. Aimed and fired with the mouse. Some care is required as shots may damage you if you stand too close. Enemies maybe be knocked away mid-shot with these spells, so it is advisable to back them against a piece of scenery. Arena Spells These spells affect the arena in some way. No aiming is required for them. Targeted Spells These spells are not directed from your character. Instead, they come from the terrain, for example, from the sky or the water. For this reason, they are very useful for players hiding in an enclosed space, as they do not require any line of sight from the player, although they may require a line of sight from somewhere else (for example, attacks from the sky can be blocked by scenery above the player). Many of these attacks are more powerful than basic attacks. Personal Spells These spells affect the player that casts them. They are often some kind of defense against attacks. Minions Minions are creatures that you summon to aid you in different ways. Control of these creatures is cycled by using the N or C keys. Minions are moved in the same manner as your Arcanist, although some have limited abilities (for example, many giants cannot jump very well). Minions will generally have a limited move-set consisting of 1-4 moves, which may use ammunition from your Arcanist's spells. Minions can be used offensively, to directly attack another player, or defensively, to block attacks. Some summons can be mounted by the player (by touching them) and can then be flown around. To fly, you must switch control to the minion; attempting to fly using the Arcanist will result in a dismount. All summons have a recharge time of 5 turns. Spells in red must be in the Arcanist's spellbook to be used by the minion. This actually consists of every move that has an identical name to the spells available to Arcanists; although a number of moves are identical, they often have different names, and as such can be used regardless of which spells the Arcanist has available. They will drain the ammo of the Arcanist. Towers Towers render the Arcanist immobile. They have a limited amount of health of their own, which is added to that of the player. This is the only way to make your Arcanist appear to reach HP of over 250. Towers are damaged by the Quake spell, and many spells from the Book of Stone have increased damage against towers. Special Spells Arcane Gate: The only spell in the game which teleports a player. It takes a player directly to wherever they wish to go at the cost of one turn, assuming there is enough space. This spell is automatically used if a players falls off the map; they use up their next turn teleporting to a chosen location. If they do not have Arcane Gate available, they may still use it at the cost of one third of their health. Transformation: This limits the Arcanist to using only Arcane spells, and spells which can be found in the spellbook in which the transformation is used. Spellbooks Arcane Book The Arcane book is a basic spellbook which contains only six spells. *Arcane Gate *Arcane Tower *Arcane Arrows *Summon Imps *Arcane Glyph *Arcane Flash Book of Flame The Flame book is unlocked at the start of the game. Many of the spells are more basic, ideal for players just starting the game. *Fire Ball *Lava Bomb *Flame Shield *Napalm *Rain of Fire *Summon Flame Dragon *Rain of Arrows *Napalm Bomb *Flame Wall *Magma Bomb *Fire Arrow *Volcano Book of Stone The Stone book has many attacks which cause considerable damage to the landscape and buildings. *Pebble Shot *Quake *Mud Bomb *Rock Slab *Summon Dwarf *Fissure *Summon Rock Golem *Fortress *Mega Boulder *Disruption *Scatter Rock *Meteor Book of Storm The Storm book contains a wide variety of attacks; some powerful, some accurate, some wide-ranging and some useful for very close combat. *Thunder Shot *Wind Shield *Shock Bomb *Summon Cyclops *Summon Storm Spirit *Summon Storm Dragon *Flight *Conductor Rod *Storm Shield *Hurricane *Chain Lightning *Storm Book of Frost The Frost book contains some of the most damaging spells in the game. However, many of these are offset by low accuracy or difficulty in achiving the damage - for example, many spells split into ice or snow, which can be difficult to accurately hit your enemy with. *Ice Ball *Frost Shards *Snow Ball *Ice Shield *Summon Sylph *Frost Dragon *Summon Frost Giant *Ice Castle *Blizzard *Frost Arrow *Ice Bomb *Comet Book of Underdark The Underdark book contains many spells which are not highly damaging. However, this is offset by having some extra effects - for example, dealing Death damage, which converts enemy minions into undead under your command, or causing an aura of decay. Note that not all Underdark spells cause Death damage. *Den of Darkness *Drain Bolt *Summon Swarm *Raise Dead *Aura of Decay *Lichdom *Dark Defences *Summon Wraith *Summon Dark Knight *Death Bomb *Rain of Darkness *Swallowing Pit Book of Overlight The Overlight book has a number of average-power attacks and contains a variety of healing and shielding spells. *Protection Shield *Shining Bolt *Summon Pegasus *Forest Seed *Sphere of Healing *Shining Power *Castle of Light *Summon Pixies *Summon Paladin *Rising Star *Sky Ray *Invulnerability Shield Tactics Many different kinds of tactics exist for Arcanists. Some are very quick, others rely on slowly eroding your opponent's health over a long time. Early game *Mega Boulder is capable of doing 175 damage in one turn when used skillfully, with a bit of luck. It is available earlier than many other highly-damaging spells. It may be helpful to combine the Mud Ball with this to keep your opponent where he is as the explosions happen nearby. *Chain Lightning can also work as an equivalent to Mega Boulder, and it is best used with Disruption. *Climbing on your opponent's head can often be used to open up a number of tactics: **Napalm injection - Commonly used by non-members who only have access to the Fire spells, firing Napalm straight down into a player will not damage you. **Headbombing - dropping a bomb directly down so that it lodges inside your opponent. The Ice Bomb is best for this, as the ice shards will damage the target instead of you, resulting in your target recieving much more damage. You could also use Mega Boulder, if you have more hitpoints than your opponent. **Castling - Although you cannot build a castle directly on top of your opponent's head, you can use the Flight spell to hover above them and build a castle to drop on them. You could also build an Arcane Tower and use Arcane Gate to teleport it on top of them. Achievements Trivia *Arcanists was voted players' favourite Funorb game in a RuneScape Poll. *In the early days of Arcanists, a common tactic was to build a castle directly on top of your opponent's head. This has since been removed. Many other changes have been implemented: **Death Bombs used to deal Death damage. **Arcanists with Shining Power never lost their ability to fly when hit. Category:Multi-player Games Category:Original Games Category:Strategy Games